Fog to prevail in city even after moderate rainfall

Moderate rainfall of 45.3 mm was recorded on Friday night, which is far above the expected 15.7 mm rainfall till January 18. However, fog is most likely to prevail in the city till January 22, and western disturbances could lead to more rainfall.

“Foggy conditions will remain, at least till January 22,” said Surender Paul, director, Chandigarh Meterological Department, while talking to Newsline. Adding that the rain was expected since there were western disturbances round the corner, Paul said that the weather will remain dry in the coming days, with partly cloudy sky.
“However, the minimum temperature during night will go down, and that of the day will go up,” he added.

Highlighting that the rainfall recorded on Friday was much above the expected figures, met officials said that as per the weather forecast, a rainfall of 15.7 mm was expected till January 18, while it was 45.3 mm on Friday night. The maximum temperature recorded on Saturday was 16 degree Celsius.

With the downpour on Friday night, the total rainfall witnessed in the city in January has gone up from last year’s figures. The city had recorded 39 mm rainfall on January 18 last year, while, this year, the total rainfall recorded in January till date has been 45.6 mm, a little more than the what was recorded last year.

IMD officials said that the trend observed in the last few years has indicated that the city usually receives rainfall in the later half of the month, and western disturbances around January 22, can also lead to rain or light thundershowers in the city. Moreover, as per IMD’s operational forecast for 2014 winter season (January to March), winter rainfall over North India will most likely be below normal this year.